1978 Alternate Formula One season
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| 1978 Formula One season | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mario Andretti entered the season as World Champion, and successfully retained his title. | |
| Turbo Era | |
| Season | |
| Races | 16 |
| Start date | 5 March |
| Start Event |  Austral Líneas Aéreas Argentine Grand Prix
|
| End date | 9 October |
| End Event | Template:USA Toyota United States Grand Prix |
| Awards | |
| Driver's Champion | Template:USA Mario Andretti |
| Driver's Champion Entrant | Template:GBR John Player Team Lotus |
| Constructor's Champion | Template:GBR Lotus-Ford |
| Entrant's Champion | Template:GBR John Player Team Lotus |
| Seasons | |
| Previous season | Next season |
| 1977 | 1979 |
| Regional Series | |
| Tier 1 | 1978 British Formula One |
The 1978 Formula One season was the 29th season of Formula One. Mario Andretti and Lotus entered the season as reigning champions, but would face a strong challenge from Ferrari and Williams, with both teams developing a ground effects chassis for the 1978 season. However, in spite of these challenges, Andretti and Lotus were able to retain both crowns.
Teams and drivers
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Notes
- 1 Gunnar Nilsson signed with Arrows for the 1978 season, but was too ill to compete.
- 2 Emerson Fittipaldi missed the first three races of the season recovering from two broken legs sustained in an accident during the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix.
- 3 Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing formally announced their intention to compete in the 1978 season and signed Peter Gregg and Jim Busby, but had to declare bankruptcy shortly thereafter.
Team Changes
Pre-season
- Wheatcroft Racing departed after the Michael Tyrrell saga left them bankrupt.
- South African privateers Lucky Strike Racing stopped participating in Formula One after 1977.
- After Brian McGuire was killed in a crash at Brands Hatch in the Shellsport G8 Championship, his team ceased to operate.
- MADI and Auto Moto Club Skofje Loka decided to not turn up for any races after the dropping of the Soviet Grand Prix from the 1978 calendar.
- Kojima Engineering, Mitsuoka and Heros Racing Corporation after the Japanese Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar.
- The Jolly Club of Switzerland and the Bang & Olufsen Team Michel Vaillant both decided to stop participating in F1.
- Parnelli appeared on the entry list, but ran out of money before being able to pay for any entries.
- Penske was bought by Jackie Oliver and turned into the Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team.
- Emerson Fittipaldi's team was bought out by Alfa Romeo and made their works F1 effort.
- Emilio de Villota renamed his team from Iberia Airlines to Centro Asegurador F1.
- Héctor Rebaque entered Formula One with his eponymous team.
- Shadow and Hesketh had to cut down to entering just 3 races due to their extremely poor 1977 campaigns.
- Privateers North Star Racing and B&S Fabrications reverted to just 2 race entries instead of the whole European season.
Mid-Season
- Shadow went bankrupt shortly before the French Grand Prix
Driver Changes
Pre-Season
- Brabham signed John Watson from Shadow to replace Patrick Tambay alongside James Hunt. Tambay would return to Formula 2 for a year.
- McLaren appointed Clay Regazzoni to race alongside Tom Sneva, replacing Carlos Reutemann, who retired from racing.
- March signed Patrick Nève to partner Tom Pryce.
- After his win at the 1977 Canadian Grand Prix, Ferrari signed Gilles Villeneuve to partner 1976 champion Jody Scheckter.
- Renault signed René Arnoux to replace Jean-Pierre Jarier. Jarier would go to Alfa Romeo to cover for the injured Emerson Fittipaldi.
- Arrows signed Finnish rookie Keke Rosberg, and Swede Gunnar Nilsson, but after the latter's diagnosis with testicular cancer, they signed Italian Gianfranco Brancatelli as a last minute replacement.
- Ensign signed American youngster Bobby Rahal to replace Nilsson alongside Ronnie Peterson.
- Everest signed Italians Riccardo Patrese and Piercarlo Ghinzani.
- Ligier signed François Migault to partner Jacques Laffite. Jacky Ickx would retire from Formula One and Harvey Jones would drive for the British Formula One Racing Team.
- Williams signed Ferrari refugee Patrick Depailler to partner Australian Alan Jones, who was returning to racing after his accident after the previous year's Dutch Grand Prix.
- Alfa Romeo brought Elio de Angelis to their team from Williams, with Jean-Pierre Jarier covering for the injured Emerson Fittipaldi.
- Boro signed former Hesketh driver Leonhard von Gottorp to drive alongside Italian Vittorio Brambilla.
- Dywa kept Renzo Zorzi and signed Arsenio Matarazzo to replace Alberto Colombo.
- Team Merzario signed Beppe Gabbiani to replace Tom Belsø, who would return to Formula 2.
- B&S Fabrications kept Divina Galica and partnered her with Swede Conny Andersson.
- Kauhsen signed Anne Schröder and Klaus Ludwig.
- Hesketh kept Stephen South and used Swedish driver Anders Olofsson. Héctor Rebaque would drive for his own team, Leonhard von Gottorp would go to Boro, Patrick Nève would go to March, Giancarlo Martini would go to Formula 2 and Brian Henton would drive in Aurora F1.
- Rebaque used American Brett Lunger alongside Héctor Rebaque.
- Struggling privateers North Star Racing would sign Giorgio Francia and Anton Roche.
- Shadow signed Swedish nobleman and rally driver Freddy Kottulinsky, and 1971 British Formula Three champion Silvio Bachot
- LEC used Ian Scheckter and Gijs van Lennep.
- Hernandez used local drivers Héctor Luis Gradassi and Osvaldo López
- Gilmore used George Snider and Jerry Sneva
- Parnelli signed Peter Gregg and Jim Busby, but due to the team's bankruptcy, neither would compete in a grand prix weekend.
Mid-Season
- Emerson Fittipaldi returned to his drive at Alfa Romeo at the Spanish Grand Prix, replacing his stand-in Jean-Pierre Jarier.
- Nelson Piquet would be given his Formula One debut by Arrows after Gianfranco Brancatelli was ruled out of the Monaco Grand Prix by illness.
- Following the Monaco Grand Prix, Tom Sneva left McLaren for Renault with René Arnoux moving in the opposite direction. Patrick Nevé was replaced at March by François Migault.
- Hans Heyer was sacked by ATS after disappointing performances in pre-qualifying. He would be replaced with enigmatic Austrian Harald Ertl.
- Anders Olofsson would be replaced by the returning Patrick Tambay for the British Grand Prix at Hesketh.
- Gabriel Château replaced Gianfranco Brancatelli at Arrows after the British Grand Prix weekend. Timo Fuchs took Château's drive with Centro Asegurador for the rest of their season.
- Vittorio Brambilla would be benched at Boro for the Dutch Grand Prix in order for Arie Luyendyk to make his Formula One debut.
- Nelson Piquet would make his second Formula One appearance of the year for Hesketh at the Dutch Grand Prix in favour of Stephen South.
- René Arnoux was sacked by McLaren after the Austrian Grand Prix for poor performance. He was replaced by Japanese driver Masahiro Hasemi.
- André Mignolet stood in for an injured Jacques Laffite at the final race of the year in Watkins Glen.
Calendar
Championship Grands Prix
An orange background indicates an event that was given the European Grand Prix title as a honorific.
Non-Championship Events
Standings
World Championship of Drivers
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Only a driver's best 11 finishes counted towards the championship
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International Cup for Formula One Constructors
Only a constructor's best placed two cars at each event counted for the championship. All results counted towards the championship
Open Trophy for Grand Prix Entrants
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